| Techniques for Selling Antiques and Collectibles
Is your house getting smaller? Of course not. But your living space may be shrinking, thanks to the ever-increasing numbers of objects you're dragging into it. If that's the case, you aren't alone. More and more Americans are insulating their homes with antiques and collectibles. In some cases, people are living under "a virtual avalanche of clutter," as the Associated Press put it in a 2005 report. Maybe it's time to start selling off some of the unwanted or unnecessary possessions that are crowding you. Heck, even if your living space is organized enough to make Felix Unger proud, you may be itching for a little more elbow room. Internet auctions, of course, have made the task of selling our "stuff" far simpler than in the prehistoric days of the 1980s and earlier.
April 23: Our readers write
The Senate committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation will have a session April 25 about the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. The committee may debate, amend or rewrite the proposed legislation and may vote on whether to send the bill to the Senate floor for consideration.Take a moment to let your senators know that you oppose S.311 and to review the facts about horse slaughter. This country and particularly Kentucky cannot afford to let emotional rhetoric of animal rights groups overwhelm reasoning. Horse processing is necessary to the horse industry. It ensures that a humane, federally supervised end-of-life option is available for unwanted horses. Here are a few reasons why: If the bill is passed, 100,000 unwanted horses a year will have no home and the animal rights groups supporting legislation have offered no solutions on how to care for them.
Banks want RBI okay to trade in illiquid bonds
MUMBAI: Banks have urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make arrangements for purchasing illiquid government securities, so that they become more marketable instruments. In a memorandum submitted by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to the central bank, the association has stated that a huge stock of illiquid securities held by banks is forcing them to deal only in benchmark securities. Illiquid securities typically are bonds with a higher premium, not traded on a regular basis. Across the same tenor, there is likely to be a difference of up to ten basis points between the actively-traded security and the illiquid ones. On an average, nearly 5-10% of a bank's total bond portfolio could comprise illiquid papers. Out of nearly 100 such securities issued so far, less than 10 of them are actually traded in the market.
Japan's Notes Have Weekly Gain on Expectation Rates to Stay Low
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's five-year notes had a weekly gain on speculation slowing corporate spending will encourage the central bank to keep interest rates unchanged in coming months. The notes halted a three-week decline, the longest slump since January, after a report on April 11 showed a worse-than- expected drop in machinery orders, highlighting concerns export growth may slow. Five-year notes also rose after an auction of the debt two days ago drew the second-highest demand in the past year. ``Investors such as banks are probably favoring the medium- term notes based on the view that the central bank won't raise rates anytime soon,'' said Hiroaki Takai, who helps oversee the equivalent of about $6.7 billion in assets at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co.
With a little study, you can buy confidently at auction
While investors are typical auction buyers, you can be, too, if you're prepared, can stay cool and take a little advice from the big boys. "The main thing is to know what you're doing," says Edward McCormick, owner and broker of McCormick Realty who also has an auction company in Huntsville. "Do your homework." If you've never been to an auction, then it's time to attend one, or better yet attend several of them. McCormick says it's free to watch, you don't have to buy anything and they're informative. You might even see a house sell in your neighborhood, giving you a feel for neighboring house values. If you're shrewd, you'll just watch the auctions to see how they operate so you can decide if this is how you want to buy a house. Beau Cole, third generation auctioneer and owner of Cole Auction in Huntsville, says auctions typically attract investors, developers, some speculators and some individuals.
|
